Before You Leave Home in an Emergency: Checklist

If you are told to leave your home, or flood water is heading for it, the order of business is simple: get people and pets ready, take what you need, switch off the utilities only if you have time and it is safe, lock up, and go. Official guidance is consistent on the first point. Turn off the gas, electricity and water only if you have time and it is safe to do so¹. If a fire is involved, seconds count, so do not waste time investigating or rescuing valuables².

The best time to prepare is before anything happens. Councils and fire services advise making up a home emergency pack and preparing an evacuation checklist of things to pack quickly³. A grab bag packed in advance, with a packing list inside it, makes leaving far easier⁴. A household emergency plan should contain everything you need to leave the property quickly and calmly⁵.

What follows is a printable checklist of the steps to take at home before you go, then the detail on each: how to isolate the utilities, what to pack, how to lock up, and what changes when flood water is already at the door.

The checklist: what to do before you leave home

Work down this list in order. If you reach a step and there is no time, or it is not safe, skip it and move on. The plan for your household should already say who does what, so that leaving is quick and calm⁵.

1. Get everyone ready. Tell everyone in the household what is happening and gather people, pets and valuables to move to a safe place⁸.
2. Pick up your grab bag. Have it packed in advance with a packing list inside, so you are not searching for things at the last minute⁴.
3. Take your medicines and health aids. Take all health aids, including glasses, hearing aids, mobility aids and prescribed medication⁹.
4. Pack the essentials if there is time. Take medication, warm clothes, any special foods, personal documents and valuables⁶.
5. Put out fires and naked flames. If you have time, make sure fires are out¹⁰.
6. Turn off the utilities if it is safe. Turn off electricity, gas and water supplies and unplug appliances¹.
7. Close and lock up. Lock all doors and windows, and lock side and back gates, the shed and the garage⁷.
8. Tell people where you are going. Let family know where you will be, and notify the emergency services of neighbours who may need assistance¹¹.
9. Take pets with you unless the emergency services advise otherwise¹¹.
10. Leave by a safe route and make your way to a place of safety¹¹.

Turn off electricity, gas and water only if you have time and it is safe

This is the step people worry about most, and the one where the official advice is most careful. The rule is the same across councils and the government: turn off your mains water, gas and electricity if you have to leave your home during a flood, but only if it is safe to do so¹². Essex Prepared puts it as: only if you have time and it is safe to do so, turn off or isolate electricity, gas and water supplies, unplug appliances and lock all doors and windows before evacuating¹.

The reason to do it at all is that leaving supplies on can cause further danger once you are gone, for example a gas leak or water damage in an empty property. The reason to be cautious is that you should not be fumbling with a fuse box in the dark or standing in water to reach a valve.

The practical answer is to learn where your stopcock, gas valve and fuse box are now, in daylight, and how to turn each one off. The government's Be Ready campaign says you will need to turn these off if you have to leave your home due to flooding or for other reasons such as a leak¹³. Warwickshire County Council advises finding out how to turn off water, gas and electricity supplies in your home⁹. Our guide to finding your stopcock, gas valve and fuse box walks through it.

If you live in a flat, the same applies, and Warwickshire's high-rise guidance adds that you should know how to isolate your gas, electric and water supply as part of being ready to leave¹⁴.

What to pack: medication, warm clothes, documents and baby items

If there is time, take any medication, warm clothes, any special foods, personal documents and valuables with you⁶. That short list from Moray Council covers most of what matters, and other councils add to it. Nottinghamshire advises taking important items such as your mobile phone, credit cards, medication and ID¹⁵. West Yorkshire Prepared suggests keeping a list of necessities in mind for a sudden evacuation: medication, important documents, cash or bank cards¹⁶.

A grab bag prepared in advance is the practical way to make this quick. Edinburgh's evacuation advice says to prepare a grab bag containing a packing list to follow should you need to use it⁴. The London Assembly's flood awareness blog makes the same point: prepare an emergency bag with the things you will need if you have to leave your home, such as medicine and important documents¹⁷.

For babies and small children, Edinburgh's list includes any special items for babies, children, elderly and disabled people⁴. West Yorkshire's household plan suggests supplies for babies and small children, and a pack of cards or other small game to keep children occupied¹¹. If you have pets, take them with you unless the emergency services advise otherwise¹¹, and see our guide to pets and animals in an emergency for carriers and leads.

Lock doors and windows and leave quickly and calmly

Once you are ready, lock up and go. West Yorkshire's household emergency plan sets out the leaving steps: lock doors and windows, let family know where you will be, make arrangements with school or work, notify the emergency services of neighbours who may need assistance, pick up your emergency bag, take pets with you unless advised otherwise, turn off gas, electricity and water if told to do so, and make your way to a place of safety¹¹.

Flood guidance adds more detail on securing the property. Croydon's flood evacuation checklist says to lock the side and back gate, lock the shed or garage, close and lock all doors and windows, set the burglar alarm, take house keys and put spare keys out of the reach of letterboxes⁷. That last point matters: a spare key left within reach of the letterbox is a way in for anyone who knows to look.

Lancaster City Council's guidance for householders facing flooding is simpler: before you leave, secure all doors and windows, and take with you all cash and valuables, together with important medicines¹⁹. Lincolnshire County Council's evacuation advice is shorter still: lock the door behind you²⁰.

Before flood water reaches your home

Flooding gives you warning, and that changes what you can do. The Environment Agency's flood warning advice is to protect yourself, your family and help others; move family, pets and valuables to a safe place; keep a flood kit ready; turn off gas, electricity and water supplies if safe to do so; and put flood protection equipment in place⁸. Somerset Council's advice for when your home is about to be flooded is to turn off your gas, electricity and water supplies if it is safe to do so²².

Croydon's checklist is written for the moment just before water arrives: turn off the gas, electricity and water before flood water enters your home, and do not touch electrical sources whilst standing in water⁷. It also carries a warning that applies to the whole of this page: be careful not to hurt yourself when preparing your home and moving important things to a high place⁷.

If you have livestock, evacuate animals as soon as possible and be ready to leave once the evacuation is ordered²³.

For the fuller picture, see our guides to flooding and to what to do if you are asked to evacuate.

Keeping the checklist ready before you need it

A checklist only helps if it is ready before the emergency. The government's Be Ready campaign and councils across the UK advise making a household emergency plan that contains all the information you need to leave your property quickly and calmly⁵. Greater Manchester's resilience team points households to the government's Prepare website template for exactly this⁵.

Make up a home emergency pack and prepare an evacuation checklist of things to pack quickly, and depending on the time of year keep a basic emergency kit in your vehicle³. Keep spare batteries at home so a torch or radio still works when you need it²⁴. Edinburgh's grab bag list includes essential keys to your house and car, cash, credit and debit cards, a change of clothing, footwear and sleeping attire, and washing, shaving and sanitary supplies⁴.

Fire services add a routine that pays off in any emergency: keep all exits clear in communal corridors and your home, keep door and window keys near the exit, and get to know your neighbours who may need assistance¹⁴. Turning off and unplugging electrical appliances as a bedtime check, except those meant to be left on such as a freezer, is good practice every night, not just on the night you leave²⁵.

If you have not yet built your plan, start with our guide to making a household emergency plan and the 30-day household preparation checklist. For what to keep in your bag, see emergency kit.